Floor for steel cars.



C. H. ANDERSON.

FLOOR FOR STEEL CARS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 18. 1914.

Patented Jul 27, 1915,

INVENTOR 1H EIEEHPQ u W1 INSESSEQ cHAnLns-n. ennnnson, or cmcmn'mr, OHIO.

moon son srnnt ones;

I Specificationof Letters lateut.

Patented July 27, 1915.

Application filed June 18, 1914. Serial No. 845,899

To all whom it may concern i Be it known that I, CHARLES H. ANDER- soN, of Winton Place,- Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Floors for Steel Cars; and li'dov hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, suchas will enableothers skilled in the art to which'it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to an improvement in combined floor and electric conduit system for, steel cars.

The usual method of installing the electric wiring in steel and other cars, is by the use of enameled iron pipe, secured to the car floor by clips. The complicated systems of automatic control now in use, necessitate the extensive use of this iron pipe, WlllCh adds materially to the weight without adding strength to the car body. The cars now in use, carry from three hundred (300) to a thousand (1,000) pounds of this material which is difficult and expensive to install, and in many instances necessitates raising the entire car body in order to pass the pipes over or above the motors.

, The object of my invention is to obviate the disadvantages of the iron conduit system above referred to, and to so construct the floor of the car that the conduits for the conductors strengthen the floor throughout the length of the car body.

With this and other objects in view my in vention consists in the-parts and combination of parts and in the details of construction as will be more fully explained and pointed out inthe claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view in plan of a car floor embodying my invention; hi 2 is a view in side elevation of same, an also showing the motor leads, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged view in Eransversc section through a portion of the oor.

The floor 1 of the car consists of steel plates, continuous from side to side and riveted to the side and cross sills. Riveted,

bolted or otherwise secured to the top' of the floor plates 1, is a steel plate 2, bent or pressed into the fluted or corrugated form as shown, so as to provide a series of channels or conduits 3 extending from end to end .of the car. These channels or conduits are adapted to receive the electric wires 4:,

the wires entering and leaving said channels or conduits 3 through openings 5 in the.

plates 1. Secured to the lower face of the floor plates are the transverse steel boxes 6 which close the openings 5 in the floor, and communicating with said boxes 6, are the conduits 6 which protect and carry the wires 1 to the apparatus under the frame of the car, with which the said wires are connected.

Located between the floor plates 1 and the pressed steel conduit section 2, is a sheet 7 of insulating material, and above the conduit section 2 and resting on same, is a strip of transite board 8 or other insulating material, which covers and protects said section through the width and length of the latter. The U-shaped grooves or spaces between the conduits of the section 2 are filled with asbestos cement 9, or other suitable insulating material, and the two side edges of the conduit section are bounded by and held in place by the strips 10, of wood or other material, which are secured to the floor plates 1 by bolts passing through the strips,

binder, which not only insulates the floor but deadens the sound and prevents the floor plates from vibrating.

The tops of strips 12 and 10--the top of the transite board over the conduit sections, and the filler intermediate the strips are all in the same horizontal plane, and are all covered by canvas 14, which forms the base for a covering of battleship linoleum, agasote or other material that will stand the excessive wear to which a car floor is subjected.

With a car floor thus constructed, the plates 1 which form the foundation may be comparatively light, and not sufiiciently stifi' in itself between cross beams, to hold the passenger load. These plates 1, are however, stiflened by the conduit section 2, which as before explained is located at the longitudinal center of the car and extends throughout the length of the latter, and forms in effect a center sill for the car floor, and by filling the upper grooves in the conduit section with an insulating material,

' tion of the electric wires.

The conduits or channels 'for the electric wires are enameled on the inside so as to resist any flash that might occur from the burning out of a wire. The motor leads after passing through the floor plates will be carried by the boxes 6 and conduits 6 direct to their positions above the motors, and by locating the conduits above the floor plates, the leads to the end motors may cross the bolsters without interference. Again with my construction the under side of the car floor, instead of being a net Work of pipes held in place by clips, is a smooth surface broken only by the boxes 6, that may be readily painted and kept in proper condition.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention. Hence I would have it understood that I do not wish to confine myself to the exact construction and arrangement of parts shown and described but,

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. A car floor composed of metal plates secured to the sides of the car and to cross bearers and a fluted metal section secured centrally to the floor plates and extending lengthwise of the car.

2. A car floor composed of metal plates and a fluted metal section secured to the upper face of said plates and forming conduits extending lengthwise of the car.

3. A car floor composed of metal plates, a fluted metal section forming conduits, secured to the upper face of said plates and extending lengthwise of the car, and an insulating filling in the grooves in said fluted section intermediate the conduits in the latter.

4. A car floor composedof metal plates, a fluted metal section secured to the upper face of said plates and forming conduits extending lengthwise of the car, insulating filling for the open top grooves in said fluted section, and an insulating covering for the plates at both sides of the fluted conduit section.

5. A car floor composed of metal plates, a

fluted metal section forming conduits secured to the up er face 'ofsaid plates and extending lengt wise of the car, strips secured to thefloor plates at the side edges of the fluted section and also at the side e ge of therbody, insulating filling for the spaces between the side strips and a covering for the entire floor.

6. A car floor composed of metal plates, a centrally located fluted metal section extending lengthwise of the car and forming conduits, insulating sheets between said plates and the fluted section and also above the latter, heat insulating material filling the open top grooves in the fluted section, and covering the floor plates at the sides of the fluted section and a covering for the entire floor. v

7. A car' floor composed of metal floor plates, a centrally located fluted metal section extending lengthwise of the floor plates and secured to the latter and forming a stiffening member for the same, insulating material covering the fluted member and also the floor plates at the sides of the latter, and a flexible covering for said insulating material.

8. A car floor composed of metal plates, and metal conduits secured centrally to and carried by said plates and extending lengthwise of the car and forming a center sill for the latter.

9. A car floor composed of cross sills, metal plates supported on said cross sills, and conduits located in the plane of the center aisle of the car and forming a sill or stifi'ening member for said floor.

10. A car floor composed of metal lates and conduits located on the top 0 said plates and forming a stiffening member for the floor.

11. A car floor composed of metal plates and conduits located on and secured to said plates in the plane of the center aisle of the car, the said conduits forming in effect a center sill or stiflening member for the floor.

12. A car floor composed of metal plates, conduits located on top of said plates and forming a stifiening member for the floor, insulating filling between the several conduits, and a covering for said conduits and insulating filling.

In testlmony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

' CHARLES H. ANDERSON.

Witnesses:

M. H. F OLGER,

CHAS. F. DENNIS. 

